Nehring faces high hurdle in bid for Lt. Gov.

Ron Nehring knows his odds of ousting Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Nov. 4 general election are long.

“Victory can be defined in a number of different ways, including expanding the base of the Republican Party, bringing our message to communities where Republicans have underperformed and by helping down-ticket candidates,” the 44-year-old resident of Crest said. “We do not strictly define victory as winning in November.”

Nehring finished second to the incumbent lieutenant governor in Tuesday’s primary election, pocketing 23 percent of the statewide vote compared with Democrat Newsom’s 50 percent, a difference of more than 800,000 votes.

A former chairman of the San Diego County and state Republican Party, Nehring is quick to point out that two other Republicans and four other candidates were on the ballot, splitting the anti-Newsom vote. Newsom also got the lowest percentage among state office incumbents running for re-election.

“This election is now a referendum on the ruling party, and our job is to break the Democratic monopoly in Sacramento so that all voices can be heard,” Nehring said.

The obstacles are significant. Newsom not only has a huge Democratic majority in California, but also a $2 million head start in campaign cash. Republicans account for just 28 percent of California’s electorate compared to 43 percent Democrats. Nehring raised just over $23,000 for his campaign while Newsom spent $183,000 leading up to primary Election Day. Nehring got through Tuesday with a just a few thousand dollars left to spend.

“It was enough money to win in the primary, and now we have a very different contest going forward,” said Nehring, the only son of German immigrants who got started in politics in Washington, D.C., after graduating from New York’s Stony Brook University.

Newsom, 46, could not be reached for comment, but campaign spokesman Sean Clegg said they see Nehring as a candidate who personifies why the GOP holds no statewide office and is in the minority in the state Senate and Assembly.

“He’s the guy who took the Republican Party brand from where it was when he was chairman (2007-10) to where it is today, which is in really bad shape with voters across the state,” Clegg said. “It’s a party on decline because of leaders such as Ron who have taken positions that are either out of step or on the wrong side of history. We look forward to making the contrast between him and lieutenant governor who fought for things Californians desire.”

Clegg also turned aside a pervasive view among politicos in Sacramento and Nehring that Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, has little interest in the seat he has and is aiming at a 2018 gubernatorial run.

“He is running for lieutenant governor and has not announced anything about 2018,” Clegg said. “But what we have is a lieutenant governor who has been the chief executive of the city of San Francisco and is prepared to be governor of California at any instance in contrast with a guy with little experience.”

Nehring’s campaign is centered on making the lieutenant governor’s office a force in reshaping state tax and education policy and reducing what he sees as legal and regulatory burdens on California businesses large and small.

“I believe the lieutenant governor’s office should be an incubator and an advocate for long-term reforms to make California economically competitive again,” he said.

In the near term, Nehring said he plans to sit down with fellow Republican Neel Kashkari of Orange County, who faces Gov. Jerry Brown in November. Among the topics is how they and all the GOP candidates running for statewide office can effectively work together and perhaps campaign as a team.

“There’s a great deal of interest in the party and among many of our candidate to work together in a way that we have not done before,” Nehring said.

His work to overcome the better funded and better known Newsom may start at home. Nehring drew 35 percent in San Diego County Tuesday compared to Newsom’s 43 percent despite having led the county GOP party from 2001 until being elevated to the state post in 2007.

San Diego Mesa College political science professor Carl Luna doubts that even a coordinated effort among the statewide office GOP candidates is likely to dent the Democratic hold on those offices.

“It’s simply the demographics of the state,” he said. “Just look at the counties — in a low-turnout election favoring Republicans, Ron won six and Gavin Newsom won 52.”

Nehring said he believes the GOP has chance in California and across the country to repeat what happened in 1994, when Republicans won big at every level.

Nehring’s effort is being coordinated by Nyna Armstrong, vice chair of the Contra Costa County GOP, with the Republican Party of San Diego County office serving as the campaign base.